Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his mother’s council tax support claim and its response to his recent complaint. Ms X has already appealed to the Valuation Tribunal and we have previously considered a complaint about the Council’s handling of the matter. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures alone.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his mother’s, Ms X’s council tax support (CTS) claim since 2014. He says this severely impacted Ms X’s health and her finances. He also says the Council responded to his complaint without considering all his submitted evidence. He wants the Council to apologise, withdraw enforcement action, provide financial redress, and improve its services.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We cannot investigate Ms X’s CTS eligibility from 2014 until her bankruptcy in 2018. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. Ms X appealed to the Valuation Tribunal who considered this matter in January 2025. The tribunal did not accept her appeal, but this does not mean we can investigate.
6. In his complaint to us, Mr X raised concerns about the Council’s handling of Ms X’s CTS claim from 2014 until her bankruptcy in 2018. We considered this matter in 2022 and decided the complaint was late at that time. We cannot consider the same matters again.
7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s complaints handling in 2025. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because Ms X has already appealed to the Valuation Tribunal and we have already considered and decided a complaint about the Council’s handling of her council tax support. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures alone.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman